After presenting various concepts to my professor and peers, many thought that both the detachable front wheel or the gear/propulsion system were the most interesting concepts. From here, I dived into more research and looked for more primary sources to prove if either of these concepts were of great need to the age group I am designing for. Hopefully from these sources I will gain constructive feedback and use it to decide on the direction for my major project.

I emailed Maali Wilson again and described these concepts, and asked a few more questions. I am still waiting for a reply from him. Another person I contacted was Julie Propst who works with children with disabilities in Uganda. I also sent her a description of the project as well as questions specifically with these two concepts. I am currently waiting for a response from her.

On Friday November 8th, I will be presenting the concepts from last week to members of CanUgan, including Navin, in order to get some feedback that will help me steer further towards the direction of this project.

Detachable Third Wheel

The first concept that both my professors and peers seemed to find the most interesting was creating a detachable third wheel that would enable education by allowing children to both travel long distances and go indoors. Clearly, the tricycle is not suitable for indoor use, especially in a school where there are many desks and chairs. However, I am worried that my assumptions may be incorrect. What if a wheelchair cannot fit through a door either?

Existing products

There are many existing products on the market today that provide wheelchair users with the choice of a third wheel. However, with most of the detachable options use materials that cannot be reproduced in Uganda (latches, motors, etc) and the option that is designed for the developing countries are not able to detach.

Below are some existing products that feature this design.

Overall Objectives

Manufactured with local materials

Detachable or retractable third wheel

Enable indoor and outdoor use

Easy to use

Low weight

What will differ my final product from the rest whether it is detachable or not is the fact that it will be made out of local materials and can be manufactured in Kasese. I want this project to allow a child to detach and reattach easily without it being too heavy. I also want to ensure that the wheelchair will be able to be used indoors, because if a child still does not use it indoors then it will defeat the whole purpose of the project.

Gear System

The difference between this concept and the other concept is that I know 100% that this would be beneficial to children, especially when they are travelling long distances to get to school.

Overall Objectives

Manufactured with local materials

Low gear and high gear

Low weight

Easy to use

The overall objective for a new gear system would make pedaling long distances easier for multiple environmental scenarios (going up and down hills, uneven terrain etc) For this concept, it is essential that I ensure that the materials are locally sourced. Therefore, it might be difficult to create a solution with such limited resources. The country is however, abundant in bicycle parts, which may provide a unique solution to this project. The weight is also a concern and the added weight of multiple gears must not impact the ease of pedaling. If it is too heavy for children to pedal than that defeats the purpose of the project.

Ethics

This week, I have also completed Carleton’s minor risk ethics form. This ethics form is filled out and attached is a sample of a script that will be said to each participant by either the researcher (me) or the translator in order to get an oral consent before participation in the study.

Objectives for Next Week

After presenting to CanUgan Representatives, I will finally decide on a focus